


Quite the Catch

by janetcarter



Category: His Dark Materials (TV)
Genre: Caught in a Storm, F/M, Near Death Experience, heights
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-12 16:07:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 927
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28513137
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/janetcarter/pseuds/janetcarter
Summary: How Lee quite literally fell into Serafina’s life.
Relationships: Serafina Pekkala/Lee Scoresby
Comments: 4
Kudos: 19
Collections: Bad Things Happen Bingo





	Quite the Catch

**Author's Note:**

> For the Bad Things Happen Bingo prompt "Caught in a Storm."

The storm was, to put it mildly, horrible. The winds were whipping the balloon ropes around so hard Lee thought he might lose an eye, and the basket might as well have been one of the rusted out swings back home during the hurricane two springs back. It jerked again and Lee thankfully managed to catch onto a bar, slippery as it was, because he would've fallen down to the ground far below if he hadn't. He just fell against the floor instead. 

"I thought you said the sky would be clear!" Hester shouted. He could barely see her through the rain pouring over his eyes.

"Yeah, well, I was wrong!" Lee yelled back. He pushed himself up and jumped around to mess with the valves, but the balloon was still far too unfamiliar for comfort; as was such tumultuous weather.

"I know you wanna prove yourself!" she yelled, and Lee thought back to his father, a man who was a hell of a lot angrier than the storm they were caught in. He'd rather die than go back home and… judgin' by the state of things, he figured this might just be it. "But this isn't the way!"

"I know, Hester! I just wanna land!"

Thunder boomed so close it felt like a god clapping next to Lee's ear. Good thing the Magisterium wouldn't've been able to hear that comparison from all the way down on the ground where it was nice and safe. 

He regretted thinking that when the wind threw him from the basket. His stomach and heart and every other organ seemed to gather in his throat as gravity took hold.

This was it.

He was a goner.

"Lee!" Hester looked over the side. He could see her, vision shaky and blurred, through reaching fingers. The pain of their separation clawed through him. It'd kill him before he got anywhere near the ground. He couldn’t bear to keep his eyes open.

But his heart and stomach and all those other organs fell right back to their usual places when his body hit something.

It… it wasn't the ground.

He was still alive.

He looked up, eyelids still bein' beat by the rain, and realized… there was a woman. A _flying_ woman. She gently carried him back to the balloon and… he thought he must've been going crazy, because in addition to a woman soaring in mid-air, the storm seemed to be lifting.

"Lee!" Hester nuzzled against him when the woman helped him into the basket. He couldn’t help leaning against the side, lightheaded as he was from all that’d just happened. "I can't believe you scared me like that!"

Lee was still struggling to find his voice, so it was a good thing the woman spoke up first.

"I don't believe I've seen you around my skies before." Her voice had a dreamy quality to it, holding a wiseness not even the elders at his hometown could muster. She was so gorgeous, too, with a strong jaw and a line of makeup runnin' down through her eye like a scar. Then he saw it: roots stretchin' beneath the skin of her arm.

Maybe he _had_ hit the ground.

"Are you… a witch?" Hester asked, looking up to her from the side of the basket. The woman, Lee realized, was standing on thin air like it was solid ground, wind gently sifting through her raven hair. Lee wondered how she wasn't frozen solid wearin' that dress of hers in the weather they'd just had.

The woman smiled, amused. "Indeed I am."

It took a moment for Lee's thoughts to catch up with what she'd said. "Wait, you mean to tell me… that witches are _real?_ "

Her warm laugh calmed his nerves, even if he did feel a bit embarrassed now that he wasn't fearin' for his life. "Surely even in the Americas you've heard of us."

"Yeah, well," he said, fixing up his rain-soaked clothes and hair. Dammit, where’d his hat go? "We're from a small town."

"I don't believe you've told me your names."

"I'm Hester, and this here's--"

"Lee.” He held out his hand. “Lee Scoresby.” She looked down to it, then back up to his eyes, so he awkwardly lowered it back to his side. “Thank you for, uh… for saving us. How did you--"

"We don't know your name," Hester interrupted. 

"I am Serafina Pekkala."

Hester’s fascination broke as she stepped back. "Where's your daemon?"

"Witches' daemons need not stay… close..." Serafina squinted and turned her head, lookin' like the wind itself had called her name. "I'm afraid I must go."

Lee felt himself frown. "So soon?"

Serafina smiled gently. Then, in a move that left Lee lightheaded, her hand delicately rested against his cheek. "I do hope I will see more of your balloon, Mr. Scoresby."

"I, uh…" He cleared his throat. He was sure Hester had rolled her eyes at his stammering. "Sure thing, Miss Pekkala."

And then she was off. 

“Lee, look!” 

Lee looked down and realized she’d saved his hat, too. It was right on the bench where she’d helped him in. “How did she…” Beaming, he shook his head and looked back up to the sky. Serafina was fast, she’d gotten smaller and smaller until she was only a dot against clear blue. Even still, he held the hat against his chest and shouted a thank you. 

He put the hat back on his head and chuckled. He and Hester may have been far from home, but that didn’t mean they were in this alone. 


End file.
